Our two older sons inspected/cleaned the flue and outdoor wood furnace and got it started up for the first time this winter while hubby and co-worker have gone deer hunting, and daughter and I made homemade bread. Two youngest sons have been a bit under the weather, so spent much of the day in their room studying and quizzing each other on the US Constitution.

Canned and additional nine pint and 2 quart jars of apple sauce.Have forty pineapple slices in the dehydrator.Watched several episodes of doomsday preppers.Planned four routes to get the wife home from work or me to her on foot if the need ever arises. Will test one rout on foot next week. Need to get some boot inserts and break them in.

Today I failed forward. I took my shoulder strap get home bag out with me and the dog for a short 16 minute walk around the neighborhood. I was also carrying my EDC items concealed in their appropriate places. About five minutes in I came to some realizations.

Just carrying the pack on my shoulder will not work for the long haul. Not enough padding for on top of the shoulder. This was rectified about another five minutes later when I extended the strap and put it over my head and under my arm so I then could have both hands free and the weight of the pack was distributed more efficiently.

The pack was too heavy for its intended purpose. This made me rethink the items I have in the pack and I will reevaluate each for their requirements.

I will do some before and after pictures soon and post where appropriate.

Lastly, thanks to Saint-TyR I will be looking into the NFA and EMI classes. I allready have a FEMA student ID and have taken several of their classes.

Well Lets see. Added another 45 Cans of Veggies to the stock, Dillions has Canned Veggies at .47 ea. right now.

Picked up another Brick of .22

Put the Finishing touches and Delivered a Customers Kydex Holster So more Prepping money in my Pocket!!

Oh and Big Score of the Day is This:

1500 Gallons of Rain Water Storage. I had a complicated 2 barrel setup being supplied by the Guttering off my Metal Building. Now This will go in place of the Barrels and I have a Timer hooked up to a hose to drip water my Raised garden bed with this lovely thing supplying it!!! oh and it was Free!!!

once again carried stubborn hens into the new coop, cleaned out the goat pen and tilled it into the front gardens.. had a conversation with my ducks about how laying eggs in a nest is awesome but they insist on the muckiest patch they can find.. DH hauled down another cord of wood from the BOL..Made time to hop on here

Was very discouraged a few weeks back when I went to the Al American site and saw the price of the 30 quart canner. Then I got the EE flier in the mail. So of course I delayed and worked on making sure I had the $$$ for it. Went online to order it last night and of course it's backordered. Went to Amazon and found it there for $10 more plus free shipping. It's on it's way!

This will come in very handy as I am usually lucky if I get 1 day per week to can. I can now pump out 2-3 times the amount I used to be able to. Just in time for Turkey sales!

150 pounds organic black beansAs well as 86-ish pounds of my 'regular' gleaning stuff. Will put about 40 pounds into LTS. Also got a turkey today which we will roast this weekend and then can up into Turkey/Veggie soup.

Bought over 40lbs of different meat at Cash & Carry. Cut up into meal portions and froze. Excellent for crock pot, or even dutch oven should we lose power. Also got some other storage staples. Low labor food prep.

and it is the crust is thick and the bread is a bit heavy for my liking but it goes down mighty well.

Looks awesome. If your crust is too thick, use less flour for kneading. Typically that is the issue.

If it is too heavy still, next time let it rise longer. One trick is to put a bowl over very hot water on the lowest rack in your oven, and on the top rack put your bread in its bowls or pans, oil and then cover. When you think it might be ready, stick 2 fingers into it and they will dent nicely and easily. Then pull them out and keep them warm, preheat the oven and then bake.

Replaced my old K-bar folding knife, its had years of service including all my hurricane deployments, with a S&W Border Guard I had been eyeing for weeks at academy. Not bad for $20 and I got a knife sharpener with it.